Italian Premiere | In Competition | White Mulberry Award Candidate
Hong Kong, 2024, 106’, Cantonese
Directed by: Jill Leung
Screenplay: Jill Leung
Cinematography (color): Oliver Lau
Editing: Tsang Yu-kin
Art Direction: Twiggy Tang
Music: Chan Kwong-ming, Kay Chan
Producers: Wilson Yip,
Pang Yuk-lam
Cast: Ekin Cheng (So Sing-wah), Natalie Hsu (young Ha Man-huen/Summer), Ian Chan (young So Sing-wah), Cecilia Choi (Ha Man-huen), Bonnie Wong (Ha Man-huen’s granny), Chu Pak-hong (Bing), Henick Chou (young Bing), Julius Brian Siswojo (So Sing-wah’s agent), Chu Pak-him (So Sing-wah’s father), Phat Chan (record store owner)
Date of First Release in Territory: December 20th, 2024
A gentle wash of romance, music and nostalgia flows through
Last Song for You, the gorgeous directing debut of established screenwriter Jill Leung. Until recently known for his high-impact action screenwriting, having penned thrillers and martial arts epics for the likes of Soi Cheang and Wilson Yip, Leung trades fists and bombast for affection and tenderness in a tale of separated soulmates.
Last Song for You begins as worn-out musician So Sing-wah (Ekin Cheng) finds himself in hospital with chronic insomnia, and there he chances across old flame and past muse Ha Man-huen (Cecilia Choi). She’s delaying surgery and giving up on life, and soon she’ll be dead. The encounter and the subsequent funeral and cremation prompt memories to return for Sing-wah, a reclusive alcoholic being hit by bad press and losing his way in work and life. But a chance for reinvigoration as well as closure for his relationship with Man-huen appears when a surprise visitor walks into his flat. Having snapped the musician out of his stupor by announcing herself as Man-huen’s daughter, Summer (Natalie Hsu) asks So to accompany her to Japan and help scatter the ashes in the sea.
That’s when
Last Song for You takes off as an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. Jill Leung loops between school days and current times, exploring the pair’s bond as teens and the march of time. In idyllic school days on the island of Cheung Chau, the young Man-huen (Hsu again) offers support for budding songwriter and fellow music nerd Sing-wah (Ian Chan), and they visit community fixtures like a CD store. Meanwhile, in present-day Japan Summer needles the grumpy Sing-wah into opening up, moving forward and regaining his artistic voice. Leung creatively binds past and present together, all the while nurturing themes of growing up, dreams, regret and self-improvement.
One of the most remarkable debuts of recent Hong Kong cinema,
Last Song for You impresses with not just romance cinema elements but strikingly high production values for a small film. Oliver Lau’s cinematography moves from a green and serene old Hong Kong to Japan, where imagery takes on a calming and gentle luminosity. Casting is a great plus, with top-billed Ekin Cheng perfectly inhabiting the tired and troubled So Sing-wah. Cheng, who rode high as an actor and singer in the late 1990s and early 2000s, portrays So with a nuanced, world-weary look and has his own 1996 hit
My Song prominent in the soundtrack. Natalie Hsu is a revelation in her first leading role, hugely expressive and affecting whether in playful scenes of puppy love or serving as catalyst when Sing-wah needs to find himself and get on track. Ian Chan, a singer-songwriter and member of popular boy band Mirror, has a breakthrough part too, showcasing not just his prowess in music but a relaxed, personable acting talent too.
There’s plenty to admire in
Last Song for You, but what had me especially struck on leaving the cinema was the film’s quiet sense of cinematic ambition. Leung works adventurous, structurally tricky elements into
Last Song for You’s dual time frames, yet they don’t weigh down the airy and smooth flow or distract from the emotions he seeks to capture. Elements of character arcs may prompt scrutiny post-screening, and that’s to Leung’s credit for not playing safe with straight romance and motivational cinema. On that front, perhaps it’s fitting that a filmmaker noted for his contributions to action film would retain a certain daredevil ethos, even as he forges a cinema of intimacy and warmth.
GUEST:
Jill LEUNG Lai Yin, director
Natalie HSU, actress
Jill Leung
Jill Leung graduated from the City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media, where he earned a BA in Creative Media and studied screenwriting under Hong Kong New Wave luminary Patrick Tam. After entering the film industry in 2003, Leung worked in roles including script supervisor for films like Tam’s
After This Our Exile (2006) before becoming a screenwriter with Tsui Siu-ming’s
Champions (2008). Since then he has written for major films including Derek Kwok’s
As the Lights Go Out (2014), Soi Cheang’s
SPL 2: A Time of Consequences (2015) and Wilson Yip’s
Paradox (2017) and
Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019).
Last Song for You (2024) is his debut feature as director.
FILMOGRAPHY
2024 – Last Song for You